Silence

 

Silence. It is not really possible if you are alive.

 

Regardless of how little noise is being made outside of your body, even in a “soundproof” room, you will begin to notice the noise within; your breath, your heartbeat, your blood coursing through your veins, the air contacting your ear drums.

 

Life is noisy. The challenge is to balance the noise with quiet, fellowship with solitude, stress with peace, activity with rest. When one of these gets out of balance, our body, or mind, will remind us of the need. When ignored, things can break. When things break it causes a much larger ripple in the pond of your life. Others are affected.

 

The flip side of this is the noise that your life creates. “Make some noise” is a common phrase in our vocabulary. Normally, this is used as an encouragement to live life to the fullest. “Live out loud” is another form of the same thing. This, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. You need to live your life on your terms, in your skin, doing things your way. When you live life in a way that is contrary to your inner self, it also creates conflict. Others become accustomed to the way you live, and grow comfortable with you, getting close to you. 

 

Then, when the scales finally tip, when you can no longer allow the confines, whether self-imposed or constraints placed on you by others, to hold you back from your deepest longings, something breaks. It’s not mental disease or illness. It is simply your inner self breaking out of a shell, like a bird pecking its way out of the container in which it was born, or the full-term baby, tightly squeezed by the uterus, begins the arduous journey through the birth canal to experience a life free of the constraints it had outgrown.

 

When this occurs, those closest to you get affected the most by the ripples which once again reverberate in your life’s pond. Some may even be capsized, but all are affected. Should this keep you from trying to “live out loud” or “make some noise”? I don’t think so. But, be aware that your choices have an effect.

 

Whether in silence or din, whether docile or vigorous, be intentional. Act with purpose. Seek out your dreams. Maximize your potential. Find a way to do life in a way that makes you complete. Find the reason God created you.

It Is Finished

It Is Finished 

These words spoken by Jesus on the cross have inspired many songs, sermons, and stories about His crucifixion. I have spent many hours looking at these three little words to try and understand what Jesus meant when He spoke them just minutes before He died.

 

Some obvious conclusions:

 

1, His life was over. 

I do not believe this to be the meaning. He knew He would rise from the dead. He had already spoken that to the disciples.

 

2. The price for sin has been paid.

This cannot be the meaning of the phrase. Jesus had not yet gone to heaven to place His blood on the real Mercy Seat in Heaven. That is when sin was remitted.

 

3. Salvation was provided for all.

One of the most important events to provide salvation was the resurrection. Until Jesus was resurrected, ascended to Heaven, and seated at the right hand of God, our salvation was not yet complete.

 

4. All prophecy had been fulfilled regarding the life of Jesus.

Again, all prophecy had not yet been fulfilled. Jesus rose on the third day.

 

5. Jesus had fulfilled the Law by living a sinless life.

This is true. However, I feel there is more to it than just fulfilling the Law.

 

6. Jesus had fulfilled all righteousness.

 

Romans 8:1-4 (ESV) There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 

 

This is also the reason Jesus was baptized by John.

 

Matthew 3:13-15 (ESV) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 

 

Everything Jesus did in his life on earth was done to fulfill righteousness. If He was not righteous, He could not have served as the eternal sacrifice to provide for forgiveness of sin.

 

The meaning of the phrase is subjective since we were never told explicitly what Jesus meant. However, there are some clues that help us understand potentially what was meant.  The Greek word used for “finished” in the phrase uttered by Jesus on the cross only appears two times in scripture. The other time is in the previous verse in John.

 

John 19:28-30 (ESV) After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

 

John tells us that Jesus knew all was finished (same word used here as in verse 30). He then asked for something to drink in order to fulfill a prophetic word. If “It Is Finished” was in regard to fulfillment of prophecy He would not have spoken the first “finished” before the prophetic word was fulfilled.

 

Everything we have recorded of Jesus’ life tells us He was on mission. From the early years, the trip to Jerusalem, He told Mary and Joseph that “He must be about His Father’s business.” His baptism by John was “to fulfill righteousness.” This was the first primary objective of His life, and the only one for which Jesus was directly responsible.

 

Once His death was accomplished, the next step would be that of Father God, to raise Him from the dead. More things would be accomplished after the resurrection, but “It Is Finished” ended thirty-three years of a man, Jesus, living a life totally surrendered to God, empowered by the Holy Spirit. He fulfilled His mission of preserving His flesh, and blood from ever experiencing sin, and thus became the spotless Lamb offered for the forgiveness of the sin of mankind.

The Road Back from Nowhere

 

My latest writing project is a book with the working title, “The Road Back from Nowhere.” None of us ever intend to get to Nowhere, but unfortunately, many have found themselves there before. And for some, it is often. You can find yourself in Nowhere and still be in the middle of your everyday routine.

 

It is similar to a sailing term known as the “doldrums”. Occasionally, a sail boat will hit a patch of water where the winds just stop blowing. Without wind in the sails, there is no way for the vessel to continue on the journey. It can last a short time, or in some cases, a very long time. Those onboard the boat have no recourse except to wait it out. Hopefully, they have enough supplies of food and fresh drinking water to make it.

 

As Christians, we have a clear directive from scripture, given to us by our Creator, as to how to escape the drifting in the doldrums, or how to navigate our way home from Nowhere. It’s called prayer. It’s the lifeline we have, 24/7, to reconnect to the very One who gives us life.

 

The parable Jesus shared that has become known as “The Prodigal Son,” even though Jesus never called it that, gives us some clear insight as to what we need to do if, or when, we find ourselves in Nowhere: return back home to Father!

 

One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite groups from the ‘70s and ‘80s speaks to this very thing. TRUTH used to sing a song called, “All the Way Home”, written by Bill and Gloria Gaither. Read the lyrics below and then listen to the song. I hope, like the prodigal, we find ourselves heading back toward home. Father is always waiting.

 

All the Way Home

 

My rebellion I called freedom took my birthright in its hand

And I woke up in the pigpen of a distant alien land.

But I saw myself this morning, dared to see what God can see,

And admit I’m lost and lonely, so tomorrow, tomorrow I will be

 

On the road back home to Father, I’ll not stop along the way; 

I was born for higher purpose. I’ll not waste another day.

Won’t be camping on the border just inside of what I’ve known;

It is all the way or nothing, all the way back home!

 

Never been a halfway person, all or nothing is for me;

When my footsteps lost direction. I was lost as lost could be.

But at last I’ve learned my lesson, learned from many a troubled day;

Now that I have started homeward, I’ll be goin’ all the way

 

On the road back home to Father, I’ll not stop along the way; 

I was born for higher purpose. I’ll not waste another day.

Won’t be camping on the border just inside of what I’ve known;

It is all the way or nothing, all the way back home!

 

Words by Bill and Gloria Gaither

© 1979 by William J. Gaither (ASCAP)

Springtime

Springtime, when everything seems to come alive

It never died, just went dormant for a season

Then suddenly, life springs from death

Giving hope, when there seems to be no reason

 

With warming sun and abundant rain

The cycle begins anew

Budding trees and flowering plants

All blessed with morning dew

 

Take note, my friend, for your own life

Tho lifeless it may seem

Can quickly go from doldrums drab

To see your wildest dream

 

Like the seeds waiting patiently

Buried in soil and dormant

Burst forth to become a beautiful sight

At exactly the right moment

 

Time is still in front of you

If you only have eyes to see it

Don’t let the weariness of life

Cause to give in and quit

 

As long as the breath is in you

As long as you rise at morn

You have a chance to have the dream

Just waiting to be reborn 

Day's End

 

Day is ended, nothing really left but memories.

I pause and wonder if there was anything left unsaid, undone;

Any harm caused to others; any love left unshared.

Is anyone different because I was alive?

Am I different because of the lives I encountered?

To get lost in these thoughts can lead to passive living.

Too much evaluation and not enough celebration.

 

Touch those you can; avoid those who intend malice.

Speak a soft word of greeting, thanks, forgiveness.

In doing so you bring light into darkness.

Peace into turmoil, hope into despair.

The love of God into your world.

Never

 

Never is a very misunderstood word.

When you speak it, you mean it with everything that is in you.

Life has many choices; some intentional, some unintentional.

The outcome can be expected, or unexpected.

 

Sometimes never gives place to maybe.

It is not a planned event, but circumstances bring new perspectives.

Experiences temper resolve when unforeseen possibilities emerge.

A new decision is then required.

 

Remaining with the proclamation of never seems noble.

But what if your premise was flawed from the start?

Never, based on not knowing all the facts, can seem certain.

But certainty is only valid with all of the information.

 

Walking away from never can mean defeat.

Or reconsidering never might open up even greater opportunities.

Those which only come after never has run its course.

Now rooms for new commitment have been opened.

 

Never rarely only involves the one who uttered it.

Others can get swept into the current of the promise.

They have choices of their own which brought them into play.

But a rescinded never can hurt nonetheless.

 

Never always has an end, even though none is implied.

When you see something beyond never, hope arises.

The self-imposed sentence of never can be revoked.

You can be released to a life only imagined.

 

There is a place in every life for never.

Without certainties, life can be chaos.

But never cannot override your will to find peace; love; happiness.

For it must always bow to what is right.

Alone - a Poem

Being alone is hard, especially in a crowded room.

You wonder why no one notices, then

You see it in their eyes as well.

They simply have a better mask.

Why must we all pretend to be happy, to be well.

Our culture has pressured us into a mold

Created by the minds of a few

To build a better society.

It’s easy to see why some retreat through drugs,

Destructive behavior, and even death.

Without a beacon of hope in their midst

They become shipwrecked without a future.

If you have a reason for waking in the morning

Share it with those you encounter.

You could be a glimmer, a brief glimpse

Of a future worth living.